Hills!

Maybe I shouldn't get too excited too soon as there are lots bigger hills in this world and my local vicinity than the little bumps I rode today. I'm definitely in need of a lot more work and need to focus on wattage (somehow). I think that means either increase resistance on my trainer or weight training. We'll start with the former before considering the latter. :-)

I took off on a very nice sunny Sunday afternoon that started about 50F and by the time I returned was it 55F, but starting to cloud up. I decided that I could ride Routte Road end to end for my first attempt to attack a few hills. I realised on my way up the first decent incline (my definition which most seasoned cyclists would smirk about I'm sure) that I should've spent at least 10 - 15 minutes of riding some flat just to get everything warmed up instead of the 5 it took to get there. Live and learn! I tried to make sure I was planning ahead for my gears, I tried to remember what I've read and been told about climbing. I worked to keep my cadence up, this is going to take plenty more hours of training to improve. The closer I would get to the top of a hill the slower and slower my cadence. This is so very frustrating! But reinforces that I just need to train harder.

What did I enjoy? The downhill run. Oh My Goodness what a thrill! I crammed my sunglasses against my face, crouched down with hands on drops and my butt slightly off the saddle tilted facing anything following me. I have no idea how fast I was going, but if I had hit any gravel and wiped out I would be limping by now. So now, my inspiration is to work very hard to climb taller hills just so I can scream down the other side. Yeehaww!

The route is right at 7 miles from my house to the end of Routte Rd at Taylorsville Lake Rd. (http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=7446). I had some disappointment on the way back. There's a nice one that I could not keep going all the way to the top. I got off and pushed the last 100 yards. I was so PO'd at myself. But it is what it is and each time I 'hit a wall' it's that much harder that I'll work for the next time. If I stop and think about this past week and how light the training regimen was, I guess that contributed to my less than stellar performance. (is that rationalising?) I decided to stop at the Pantry and get a banana and power bar. I needed to take 5 (more like 10 - 15) and catch my breath after 14 miles. I was feeling great, the sun was still shining, so I took off down King's Church. Then I got totally psyched! I was averaging 100 rpm the whole way, which is 4.3 miles. My total ride time was an hour and 15 minutes. Total time out was about and hour and 45 I guess.

Well, now to get out and run in a little while. I've not done enough of that either and the 5K is going to be here in no time. My bff has been training on her new treadmill and did the full 3 miles early this past week. I am so proud of her! I'll get back in time to clean up and get ready to pull for the NE Patriots. I love Tom Brady!

Tomorrow and Tuesday are supposed to be 65F with rain. I wish I could work from home. I'll have to check and see what I can work out. It does look like the next 10 days of weather will be at least in the high 40s except for Wednesday. Yoga is Tuesday! I am definitely hitting the trainer tour on Thursday this week. This is the last month to take advantage.

Oh yeah, I found this triathlon/duathlon event the weekend before my birthday in June. The duathlon is a 5k, 40k, 10k. I've got until March to sign up and I'm thinking this could be a fun thing to do. A nice accomplishment before hitting that half century mark.